Hershel Markovitz

The Mellon Institute

October 11, 1921 – August 26, 2006

Polymer Rheologist

Awarded Bingham Medal 1967
President 1969-1971

Dr. Hershel Markovitz was born on October 11, 1921 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. In 1942 he obtained his BS in chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh and in 1949 he received his PhD in chemistry from Columbia University. After receiving his PhD, Markovitz worked for almost 20 years as a researcher at the Mellon Institute. He was then offered a professor position with Carnegie Mellon University where he worked from 1967-1986. During his academic career, he created foundational courses on rheology for the graduate program in polymer science which he taught until his retirement in 1986. He also created and narrated an educational movie on polymer rheology entitled Rheological Behavior of Fluids (see Markovitz Video) as part of the National Committee on Fluid Mechanics Films (NCFMF) program supported by the NSF.

Markovitz is well known for his pioneering work on linear viscoelasticity of polymer solutions. He also is known for some of his later work on quantifying normal stress effects of polymer solutions, in both theory and experiment. These effects are vividly demonstrated in the above-cited movie. In 1967, Dr. Markovitz was awarded the Bingham Medal for recognition of “his many varied contributions to the science of rheology, especially measurement and theoretical treatment of nonlinear viscoelastic properties.” (Physics Today 1967).

Sources

Rheology Bulletin Sep 1967, 36(3). Also, Box 5, Folder 51. Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740.

Bingham Medal Given To Hershel Markovitz. Physics Today 1967, 20(11), 127. Go to link.

Berry, Guy C.; Casassa, Edward F.; Coleman, Bernard D.; Plazek, Donald J. Hershel Markovitz. Physics Today 2006, 59(11), 73. Go to link.

Markovitz, Hershel. Rheological Behavior of Fluids. MIT ODL Video Services. Go to link.

Photo Credit

AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives.